Hey Guys!
I'm so glad there's a forum for this amazing car, and I already have a few questions.
I just received my TCH three days ago and the first trip I took was a 2 hour drive on the highway back home (the dealer was that far away) in which I got around a 39 MPG average. However, ever since I have been driving locally, my tank average has gone down ever so slowly. I only commute 3 miles (I could probably bike, but in the cold Ohio winters, it's not very smart) to work, which is at most a 10 minute drive. Isn't this car supposed to do very well when driving local roads? I do run into stop signs/lights ever so often, however, I notice when I first start off the car, it's really hard to get the car to utilize it's electic power. This is why my tank average keep progressively getting worse. Is there any way I can from the start get my MPG average higher? I've tried employing all the tips such as regenerative braking, and predicting red lights.. etc..

Also, Is there a way to see what my MPG average is for just the one trip (from start to finish) and not the tank average, I'd really like to see what I'm actually getting driving to and from work.

Also, what does the ECO drive bar do? After the two hour drive, the bar was filled and it even said excellent, however whenever I drive to work, the bar isn't filled, nor does it say anything (I don't have a navigation system by the way).

It may sound like I'm complainign an awful lot, but really I am in love with everything about this car, I just want to get the most out of it, especially during those short commutes to work.
Thanks so much, and I'm excited to join this exciting community!

Contrary to EPA mileage numbers, you get your best MPG on high speed non-stop highway runs. And you will get your worst mileage on 'cold start'; short; low speed drives like you have on your commute to work. It takes a mile or two before the cars engine and catalytic converter warm up and the car can drive on battery alone.

If you do repeated short trips and don't let the engine cool down much, the MPG will get better, but it will never be as good as long steady drives at 50 miles per hour or higher.

Link to My Hybrid Car News Web Page

The ECO level bar graph is the answer to your question about the trip mileage. It simply indicates the current trip mileage (since powering the car up). The chart starts at 25 mpg, and ends at about 42mpg. If your trip mileage is greater than 42mpg, it will just show the graph completely full.

When you first start out on a trip, it typically won't show anything right away (you have to use gas when first starting out, and your mileage during startup is probably only 10-15mpg).

Based on my experience, the best mileage comes in longer trips on rural and suburban routes where the speed stays below 42 miles per hour much of the time so electric-only mode can be used. Second best is highway travel. Last place are those very short trips that never get the TCH quite up to stable conditions that allow much use of the electric mode. I think it's the length of your trips that hurting your mileage the most.

Having said that, this kind of driving is also the worst case for conventional vehicles, so even though you might not get the EPA numbers on your TCH, you're certainly getting much more economy than you otherwise would.

1) It does not always take a couple of miles to "warm up" It can be a time requirement. I have a long grade from my house and when I go down that (about 0.3 miles) by the time I'm at the bottom at about 20 miles per hour my engine has shut off.

2) I assume you don't have a NAV system. If you do under the INFO button, push trip and go to the consumption screen and push reset. This will track your trip. The ECO meter is OK but more difficult to accurately intrepret closely.

3) I don't necessarily get the car to full E mode on short trips but my trip into town is about 4 miles and includes a 55 zone, a 40 zone and a 25 zone with 2 lights and a stop sign. From a cold start I can still average 40 mpg. It's just about always best to get up to speed steadly and let off the gas and immediately feather back onto the throttle.

Hey WizardHowl, you're not alone! I've had my TCH for a month now and have over 600 miles on it and I'm average 31.8. I have nav system which displays 1 minute intervals and many times I am above the 40 mpg and have gotten all the way up to 60 mpg. But because of the many lights/stop signs and speed limit variation, the highest average I've seen is 32.3.

I'm right about where you are in mileage. Today on the display by the speedometer I got it up to 32.9 mpg, although the nav display is at 32.3. As others have mentioned you will see your best mileage on the highway, or steady runs with no stop and go driving. I have a short commute to and from work and don't get good mileage on these trips, but on the freeway I've been averaging above the 38mpg epa estimate.

We don't have a TCH, but we do have both a Highlander Hybrid and a Prius. I can tell you short trips will KILL you MPG. We do a few trips in the mornings and afternoons to get kids to school and daycare that are less than 4 miles, and even in the summer (100+ degrees) it takes more than that to get the cars warmed up enough to get "normal" gas mileage. These Toyota hybrids warm up faster than a non-hybrid car for emissions reasons, too.

I agree with previous posts saying 40 miles per hour trips in the city are best for mpg, and then highway. It will also take you a little while to get used to driving the car. Rather, learning how to get the most mileage out of the hybrid system.

Those short trips will destroy your MPG - even if it's several a day but only a few miles each. This isn't unique to hybrids at all, however. You just don't have this feedback displayed in most normal cars.

Hope this helps.

I should have reset mine when I had my tank average at about 46 mpg after a long 60-63mph trip on some two-lane roads. Could make a nice "best" on my consumption screen!